Leadership Thoughts for Life Long Learners

Archive for the tag “intentional”

I was reading John Maxwell book, “15 Invaluable Laws of Growth” and was deeply impacted by what he stated in the Law of Contribution. Maxwell differentiates the difference in living a life focused on Self Fulfillment vs a life focused on Self Development.

Self Fulfillment – thinks of how something serves me.

Self Development – thinks of how something helps me to serve others.

Self Fulfillment – feeling good is the product.

Self Development- feeling good is the by-product.

I do not know any leader that would not list one of the goals of their lives as desiring a feeling of self fulfillment. Yet, according to these definitions we realize that living with the focus of self development is a much deeper and generous claim. I have no doubt fallen into the trap of desiring self fulfillment at different times in my life. Yet, when self fulfillment becomes the goal it sabotages the culture you work in. The insinuation is that there is a defining moment when we arrive. The moment we think we have arrived we begin to lose our grip on the progress we have made. When self development becomes the aim, we never buy in to the mindset that there is some elusive “arrival” and we focus on consistently getting better as we progress forward.

If I were honest with myself I would conclude that I miss more than I get. One of the fundamental practices of ensuring we get the most out of everything is to be more fully aware in the moment. Rarely is piling more action items on the calendar the solution to seeing better results. If we could eliminate action items, or even keep the same items, yet be more aware and in tune with what is going on in the moment we could capitalize on the opportunity which is right in front of us. I have met far too many individuals that are so concerned about missing the “next big thing” that their lack of awareness concerning opportunity right in front of them never materializes. Being more aware does not happen accidentally; it must be intentional. Awareness requires you to listen more than you speak. It requires you to observe your surroundings rather than ignore them. It just might be that the key to a better future has been right in front of you all along, you just missed it.